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The revolver is a dependable weapon useful for lethal, non-stealth playstyles. The revolver is particularly notable for its high damage per shot, and ease of handling.

Revolver AP ammunition is the most powerful ammunition against turrets, robots, and other hard targets such as metal doors. AP ammunition allows the revolver and its variants to dispatch robotic and armored targets more swiftly and easily than any other ammo. Revolver AP is also very effective against human enemies. Without upgrades, a single body shot is enough to kill low-tier unarmored opponents. Fully upgraded, a single body shot is capable of killing "veteran" level Shadow Operatives. Only armored police, certain "elite" level Shadow Operatives, EXO-suits, and a handful of ARC elite soldiers have the durability to tank two AP rounds. However, revolver AP ammo is very rare. Roughly 250 such bullets can be found, 90 of which must be purchased. See Revolver Ammunition for a list of locations.

The standard revolver is the only variant that is compatible with the standard (non-AP) revolver ammunition, and while "standard" is often another word for "not really good," standard .357 magnum rounds are rather effective against most targets, with the exceptions being props and robots. Unfortunately, even the standard ammunition is rare, and like with the AP rounds, it is usually found in stores, in small quantities.

A custom-made revolver and trusty sidearm of Otar Botkoveli. The weapon can be obtained only by looting it from Otar's body after killing or knocking him out, either during the mission The Calibrator, or inside the Dvali Theater when Prague is under martial law.

It is the only sidearm that can use a scope, coming pre-equipped with a 4x scope. It is the most accurate variant, has the highest base damage (on paper), and has the least recoil, but has the smallest magazine, lowest max rate of fire.

This weapon cannot be upgraded.

Only accepts Armor Piercing rounds.

Has a maximum range of 65 meters, the longest of the three revolver variants.

The revolver is a dependable weapon, featuring a non-obtrusive iron sight and good accuracy even without upgrades. The standard revolver has a range of 55 meters, but standard .357 bullets only generate sound out to 45 meters, making it possible to kill an opponent before they even notice they are under fire. Even without upgrades, the standard revolver packs enough punch to kill unarmored thugs and grunts with a single shot to the torso. Damage is high enough to (usually) break police helmets in two shots, or one with full damage upgrades. Weaker grunts, like merchant bodyguards, die to limb shots from an non-upgraded revolver, while Dvali thugs later in the game tend to get knocked down. The standard revolver has a high fire rate when upgraded, along with comfortable, snappy handling. (as befits Adam's trademark weapon class).

The gun is not without its flaws, however. Without upgrades, and even with them, getting swarmed puts Adam in a very difficult position. Ammunition, of both kinds, is primarily bought in stores, and is very hard to come by in the world. Fully upgraded, the damage is still not enough to drop armored police and the heavier types of Shadow Operatives with a body shot. The base ammo is not strong enough to guarantee helmet break on the first shot (unless you fully upgraded the damage stat). Despite these drawbacks, the weapon's handling characteristics make it possible to pin-point cracks and seams in armored opponents, and accurately place your shots where they will hurt the most (the joint between the helmet and the neck protector on the armored cops, etc.)

Overall, this weapon excels at handling small groups, regardless of what gear they have, what level they are, or who they are, especially at close range. Note also that most .357 hits that do not result in kills, or strike armor, lead to the enemy entering a long "ouch!" animation, like they do when hit with the sniper rifle. Even high-morale cops sometimes react like this when hit from 50 meters away. The standard revolver, without upgrades, requires 3 shots to kill an unaware police officer in light tactical gear from behind at 30 meters, or 2 shots at 29 meters.

Fully upgraded, the standard revolver is powerful enough to dispose of armored cops in 5 body shots from beyond 30 meters range using standard ammunition. When using AP ammunition, the fully upgraded standard revolver is able to dispose of sentry bots in just two shots, and a majority of human-sized targets in two to three bodyshots.

The lower base rate of fire is deceptive, as the hair-trigger upgrade will turn this weapon into a rapid-fire weapon just like the standard revolver, allowing an entire 9 round cylinder to be fired in less than 2 seconds. Damage is higher than the base revolver, more so than what the in-game stats indicate.

Note that this weapon can only use .357 AP ammunition, vastly more powerful than the base ammunition. Few enemies can stand up to repeated hits from this gun. Fully upgraded, a pointblank shot to the groin or stomach leaves armored cops at about 15% health, and in a long "ouch!" animation. At 25 meters, the same cop is left with slightly less than 20% health. Less armored opponents don't fare much better; a single bodyshot is enough to kill a metro cop out to 27 meters. Since rate of fire is so high, and the handling almost identical to the base revolver, the classic diamondback is a contender for most powerful weapon in the game, dispatching all but the most durable of enemies in one or two shots. The toughest regular enemy Adam comes up against, the EXO-suit, goes down after a mere four shots.

Drawbacks of this weapon include its inability to use ordinary .357 rounds, its 50 meter range, and rarity (not to mention expense) of .357 AP ammunition. It's also very loud, generating sound out well past its 50 meter max range.

A specialized piece of kit, to say the least. This is a unique revolver variant which is only found on Otar's body. Needless to say, in order to use it, you must incapacitate or kill Otar during your first visit to Prague, when he will be at his casino, or on the third visit, where he has relocated to the Dvali Theater. Like the classic diamondback, this weapon only chambers AP ammunition.

Otar's signature sidearm sacrifices the reload speed, rate of fire, cylinder size, upgradability, and damage of the two other revolver variants in order to mount a scope, as well as a hefty range increase. The handling, much like that of both the "normal" revolver and classic diamondback, is excellent, but since you cannot equip it with a laser sight (or any upgrades whatsoever), run-and-gun really does not work so well with this piece. A slow, steady approach is recommended, not only to take advantage of your superior range and scope, but also because Otar's revolver is poorly suited for close combat fighting, and its recoil is rather immense, especially without points in cybernetic weapon handling.

On paper, it seems to have only slightly less damage than the fully upgraded classic diamondback, but in reality, its damage is woefully inadequate. While the diamondback kills metro cops with bodyshots out to 27 meters, Otar's revolver is only lethal within a mere 8 meters. Past that, it takes two rounds to take down a cop in light gear. Even the standard revolver fares much better, scoring fatal bodyshots on the same cop at 19 meters when loaded with .357 AP, and needing two rounds at 23 meters. Armored cops require a solid four bodyshots to drop at 27 meters, and a staggering six bodyshots at 36 meters. Due to the small 5-round cylinder, lengthy reload, ardously slow dry reload, and how extremely rare .357 AP is, usage of Otar's revolver should focus on headshots from a far distance. Not many enemies can actually attack Adam if he keeps a 50 meters distance, let alone 65.

While rather weak in damage, it is the only pistol with a scope, which it combines with a longer maximum range than the majority of Adam's arsenal, snappy revolver handling, and the generously light consumption of only 6 inventory slots, as opposed to the 10+ of all other scoped weapons. Another upside is how quiet Otar's revolver is. Shots can only be heard from 35 meters, making it the least loud revolver. It would be prudent to use this knowledge to plan ambushes, or snipe bad guys not only way outside their own attack range, but also their hearing range.

Adam begins with this weapon, along with 18 bullets, in the first mission of the game (M1: Black Market Buy) if the short-ranged lethal method of engagement is selected in the opening dialogue with Jim Miller.

A revolver can be obtained from apartment #23 of Jensen's apartment building. The revolver is located in the safe behind a refrigerator, which can be moved using the "move heavy objects" augmentation, a carefully placed explosive, or a P.E.P.S. charged shot, etc. The safe is an easy hack, and the loot inside also includes Neuropozyne and a biocell.

Anytime after arriving at Prague, a revolver can be found in the the right-side storage unit at the small courtyard northeast of the Palisade Property Bank. The storage unit can be accessed using the keycode 1293, and contains other valuable items, including 12 .357 bullets and a large amount of money.

The Mustang Arms .357 was likely inspired by the Dardick tround concept.

The Classic and Otar's .357 variants have the upgraded barrel of the explosive rounds kit from Deus Ex: Human Revolution, but fire Armor Piercing bullets instead. "Diamond Back .357, MA-HEX20" is written above the barrel and "MA-HEX20, High Ex/Incendiary, Tracer" is written below the barrel.

The classic revolver can hold up to 9 rounds, 2 more than its counterpart in Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

Otar's revolver occasionally sticks to Adam's hand. Multiple solutions are available, with a greater or less degree of success, such as going into the shooting range, repeatedly taking metro rides, triggering the icarus landing animation, and doing a lethal takedown.